Exe Valley Fishery Catch Reports & News

We hope you had a great Christmas! Following the festivities a total of 38 anglers visited the shores of Exe Valley this week, catching 141 fish between them for a rod average of 3.7

Top rod was Blair Woodland from South Devon with 12 fish. Blair regularly fishes the lakes during the winter and found most of his success using Blobs and also moved around the lake to find fish. Ben Cheeld from Taunton also had a great bag of 9 on his second visit of the week, following a catch of 4 a few days before.

Best flies are Blobs, Blue Flash Damsels & Buzzers and during the mild temperatures a floater has been just about all thats needed although if the sport slows, try counting down your flies for longer or swap to a slow sinker. Best areas have been in the upper half of the lake, especially near the outflow and on the point, although fish are being caught all around Anchor Lake.

Here are a selection of the catches from this week. Thanks to all those who visited, we hope to see you again soon and have a very Happy New Year!

Sue & Nick

Eliot Hector from Taunton with a fish caught & released on a Fritz during Christmas week.

Peter Brittain with a nice Blue Trout for the pan!

Regular Exe Valley angler Blair Woodland from South Devon put his Blobs to good use, fished with a variety of retrieves in various locations around the lake. He finished the day on 12 fish.

Peter Hart from Kingsteignton looking very pleased with his bag of 3 including a Blue Trout. Peter went on to enjoy some catch and release having reached his limit.

Ben Cheeld from Taunton with a beautiful silver fish caught using a floating line and static nymph, he added 3 more to his total (all released) and fished another session on 30/12/18, banking another 9 fish, this time using a New Zealand dropper set up leaving the comment “Cracking Day!”

Father & son team Chris & Shaun Ley travelled from Barnstaple and in their words had a “fantastic day in a fantastic setting with fantastic fish!” Thank you for visiting guys, we are pleased you had a good day and hope to see you again soon!

There are plenty more fish to upload but with New Year on the horizon we will leave you with some scenes from Exe Valley this week and to use Shauns words, it has been fantastic to see so many of you visiting.

With the last of the hampers posted and Christmas just around the corner it is time to write the penultimate post of the year. Firstly the prize draw to win a hamper full of Smoked Trout, Nuts, Cheese and Pickles worth £50.00 was very popular with a 1 in 46 chance of winning the prize.

The winner was drawn at the end of the day on Friday 21st and first out of the hat was Steve Edmonds who fished at Exe Valley Fishery as part of the South Molton Fishing Club last week. Many congratulations to Steve who collected his prize this morning - perfect timing and already earmarked for Christmas Breakfast so we hear! Steve messaged to say ‘ Sue - Many thanks for the super hamper. Trout Pate on crackers with a cafetiere of coffee. Lovely’

Steve Edmonds looking pleased with his winning hamper which he tells us he will be turning in to Christmas breakfast! Steve - we think there will probably be enough for Boxing Day too!!

Fishery News

Anchor Lake has been on good form again this week with every angler having a successful visit. On Saturday alone 5 anglers caught 43 fish between them making the rod average a whopping 8.6 fish!! One of those anglers was 81 year old Jim Hatim returning to Exe Valley Fishery this week having not had the opportunity to wet a line all year. He took full advantage of the very obliging fish and finished his day with 3 stunning Rainbow Trout including a beautiful 4 pounder, part of a total bag weighing 10lbs.

Blair has fished 2 weekends in a row during less than favourable weather and has been more than rewarded for his efforts. You can only catch fish with your fly in the water!

WINTER PERMIT OFFER - Buy 4 permits and have your 5th outing on us!

Don't forget our Winter Permit Offer starts on the 27th December 2018

We are pleased to be able to announce a Winter Fishing Permit Offer *(subject to T&Cs) to those of you who would like to support the fishery when the fishing is great … but the weather isn’t the most pleasant!

From Thursday 27th December 2018 to Sunday 31st March 2019 inclusive BUY 4 PERMITS & GET THE 5th PERMIT - FREE!!! You are free to choose whatever 5th permit you like … the deal is you must visit and pay for 4 full price permits within the allotted time published above, that’s it!

* Terms & Conditions 1) Pre-paid gift voucher permits DO NOT qualify for this offer. 2) All permits MUST be completed in full to register as a visit. 3) Return slips MUST be completed at the end of each session to register as a visit. 4) A permit purchased and not matched to a return slip will not be counted. 5)ONE FREE PERMIT of the anglers choice (C&R, 2, 3, 4 or 5 fish) will be issued after 4 full price visits subject to the T&Cs 6) The FREE permit will be valid for one visit only which must be taken by 30th April 20197) This offer can be enjoyed more than once between 27/12/18 & 31/03/19 - e.g. Fish 8 times and receive 2 FREE PERMITS 8) The FREE permit is non-transferable and has no cash value.

Finally Nick & I would like to wish all of our anglers a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, and if you need to escape from the house for a few hours we will be open throughout the festive break. Looking ahead at the long range forecasts it looks like we are in for a spell of settled weather, with good temperatures for the time of year of up to 12C and light winds averaging 8-10mph … perfect small stillwater trout fishing conditions.

Despite the weather its been pleasing to see the lakes bustling with activity once again as a couple of local fishing clubs descended on Exe Valley Fishery during the week. On Tuesday 11th the South Molton Fishing Club visited with 9 anglers and on Saturday nine Clatworthy Flyfishers braved torrential rain and were rewarded for their efforts, enjoying some good fishing, a break for hot bacon rolls & coffee before the second half and a well earned pint at the local pub.

The Anchor Lake bustling with activity during the South Molton fishing club day

There were plenty of top quality fish caught throughout the morning with the main comments being about how hard the fish were fighting and how fat the fish are! Four pleasure anglers also fished during the day and by the close of play 13 rods had amassed a catch of 52 fish for an average of exactly 4 fish per person. The summer is long forgotten, Anchor Lake is back and on fire!

There are plenty of hard fighting trout in Anchor ready to pull your string and brighten up the winter!

South Molton club angler, Steve Edmonds, looks pleased with this bright Rainbow Trout and said “Fishery in good order - Excellent!”

Peter Kyle caught this plump Rainbow weighing in at 4lb 6oz and entered for Troutmasters. Good luck!

Flies & Tactics

Most people are fishing with floating lines coupled with a mixture of Blue Flash Damsels, Bloodworms and Cats. During the Clatworthy outing a few fish were also taken on sinking lines with Snakes but by the Saturday we were amidst weather warnings, torrential rain and dipping temperatures so this was to be expected. Despite the weather 41 fish were banked by the Clatworthy club pushing the rod average up to 4.6, with Chris Short from Illminster achieving a bag limit of 10 fish.

Blairs Barbless Buzzer and another Rainbow fooled … but released back to Anchor Lake. Why not visit and try our £25 sporting ticket this winter? It beats a day stuck indoors!

It is very important to keep moving around the lake, searching out new pods of fish and experimenting with depth. The anglers who are adopting this approach, including Blair Woodland who travelled from South Devon, are being rewarded for the extra effort. Blair caught on a variety of lines and flies, including his own home tied Buzzers and judging by the bend in that rod he had some fun!

Bad weather … what bad weather?! Blair gets his rod bent into the Anchor Lake trout on a grey Saturday before warming up with a post fishing burger & beer!

Shop News

The shop has been busy with several Christmas orders for Smoked Trout and Duck. We will have our final delivery of products on Friday 21st December and have added a selection of Chutneys, Jams and Preserves to our range along with some gorgeous gift ideas including beautifully designed Gaby fish cushions – the perfect gift for that hard to buy for angler.

Selection of preserves available perfect to compliment Smoked Trout and Duck

Brighten up the sofa - a great gift for the angler in your life! Priced £16.95 to £19.95

WINTER PERMIT OFFER - Buy 4 permits and have your 5th outing on us!

We are pleased to be able to announce a Winter Fishing Permit Offer *(subject to T&Cs)to those of you who would like to support the fishery when the fishing is great … but the weather isn’t the most pleasant!

From Thursday 27th December 2018 to Sunday 31st March 2019 inclusive BUY 4 PERMITS & GET THE 5th PERMIT - FREE!!! You are free to choose whatever 5th permit you like … the deal is you must visit and pay for 4 full price permits within the allotted time published above, thats it!

*Terms & Conditions 1) Pre paid gift voucher permits DO NOT qualify for this offer. 2) All permits MUST be completed in full to register as a visit. 3) Return slips MUST be completed at the end of each session to register as a visit. 4) A permit purchased and not matched to a return slip will not be counted. 5) ONE FREE PERMIT of the anglers choice (C&R, 2, 3, 4 or 5 fish) will be issued after 4 full price visits subject to the T&Cs 6) The FREE permit will be valid for one visit only which must be taken by 30th April 20197) This offer can be enjoyed more than once between 27/12/18 & 31/03/19 - e.g. Fish 8 times and receive 2 FREE PERMITS 8) The FREE permit is non-transferable and has no cash value.

Look out next Friday as we will announce who the winner is of the delicious Christmas Hamper, remember every-time you fish at Exe Valley (there are another 5 days to go!), you will be entered into the draw. Thank you for reading, I hope to welcome you soon. Don’t forget we are open throughout Christmas (see below) and with our new winter permit offer starting on 27th December there has never been a better time to enjoy the cool, clear water of Anchor Lake and some exciting winter sport! And if you would like to discuss any or all of the above please call Sue on 01398 323008 for assistance or check out our Exe Valley Fishery Facebook Page

It has been a busy week at Exe Valley Fishery preparing for the festivities with a new batch of smoked fish now in stock and preparations for several groups visiting the lakes before the big day. We are also pleased to publish our opening times as follows:

The weather this week has transformed Anchor Lake numerous times with everything from moody low laying fog to beautiful sunshine and unfortunately very high winds and copious amounts of rain! Let’s hope things improve in time for Christmas.

Cold clear water, big blue sky & sun - perfect winter conditions!

Mr Crane caught this lovely full tailed 3lb Rainbow Trout on an Orange Cruncher and entered the Troutmasters Competition which we are pleased to say the fishery will continue to be part of in 2019. He also sent a message to say “Fished on 4th December and caught three good fish, 2 at 2lb 12oz and 1 at 3lb. Enjoyable day. Sue was there, friendly & helpful”

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Mr Crane with his 3lb full finned Rainbow caught on an Orange Cruncher at Exe Valley this week

Orange Cruncher

Fancy some winter fishing and the chance to win some delicious smoked goodies to enjoy on the big day? Visit Exe Valley Fishery this week, spend just £25 and be entered into our Christmas Prize Draw.

Christmas Prize Draw

Any customer spending £25.00 or over in one transaction between 10th December 2018 and 21st December 2018 will be entered into a prize draw to win a hamper worth £50.00 including fish, cheese, nuts & pickles!

This offer is available to all customers purchasing day ticket permits and/or products from the shop including smoked fish and permit vouchers (ideal Christmas presents!). One entry per £25 sale, multiple entries allowed. The winner will be drawn at the close of business on Fri 21st and the hamper will be ready for collection over the weekend 22nd/23rd Dec … just in time to enjoy for Christmas.

Win a selection of items from our range such as these which arrived into stock this week. The lucky winner of our prize draw will take home a selection of smoked fish, cheese, nuts & pickles. Please note the prize hamper does not include all the items shown in this image although it is available for £75.20 including a free basket! All smoked fish, duck & chicken we stock can be frozen for up to 3 months.

That’s all for this week, look out next time for a new winter permit offer which will be available from 27th December and in the meantime please call Sue on 01398 323008 for assistance or check out our Exe Valley Fishery Facebook page.